Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1479881
12 OPINION Unbiased PBS, made in Brussels THE news of our Prime Minister addressing the United Nations assembly is another case study of the state of Maltese media right now. PBS focused on Abela as a statesman. TVM.com.mt regaled us with Lydia's impeccable fash- ion taste. Not a mention of the whopping €140,000 bill to cover the all-inclusive one week stay for the 30 strong entourage on the publicly funded media. Not a mention that no media was in- vited. For that we have to rely on other sources. As we celebrated Malta's Inde- pendence this week, a fleeting question crossed my thoughts. How much have we gained as a nation, as a people, in the past half-century and how much have we lost in the last decade? How much are we losing through an unwitting haemorrhage of our freedoms, both as individual citi- zens and as a sovereign State? In Malta, freedom of expres- sion was first established as a fundamental human right, ac- tionable and protected by the Courts, already in 1961 by the interim Blood Constitution, and subsequently reaffirmed in the Independence Constitution of 1964. Independence for us means above all the freedom to put our rulers to scrutiny, even those – especially – elected by ourselves. Letting go of our freedoms equates to losing out on our inde- pendence and to be subjugated to that which is dictated by the pow- ers that be; allowing ourselves to be deprived of access to free in- formation and expression. Almost five years ago one of our best journalists was killed to si- lence the truth. It is painful to see that five years later Malta did not move an inch on media freedom and independence. Ironically, or tragically, Europe has moved three or four steps to protect journalists in the after- math of Daphne Caruana Gal- izia's killing, while Malta stays idle. Last week the European Com- mission made a move which will now hopefully force the Labour government's hand. A proposed Media Freedom Act was submit- ted, intended to protect and fur- ther media pluralism and inde- pendence in the EU, in particular by including systemic safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions. Evidently, in the light of current threats to the fundamental tool of democracy as is freedom of expression and free access to in- formation, European Institutions feel the need to act. Von der Ley- en made the move where Orban and Abela fail to budge. This European Media Freedom Act is a matter of general public concern. It is in the interest of each and everyone of us to see that journalism remains a strong pillar of democracy; that it is able to operate fearlessly without in- terference from the State or other parties in order to allow for the emergence of truth, with free ac- cess to information for all, whilst offering a free and informed choice to every entitled individu- al; as only a choice made in this light can guarantee a genuinely democratic government. In fact, this proposed Media Freedom Act focuses on the in- dependence and stable funding of public service media as well as transparency of media ownership as well as the allocation of state advertising. Crucially for Malta, the Com- mission proposal provides black- on-white safeguards against state control of public media, political nominations on related bodies and funding. Article 5 of the proposed Act specifically provides to safeguard the independent functioning of public service media providers. This will impose on our state broadcaster to provide "in an impartial manner a plurality of information and opinions"; it will require that the PBS method be modified to ensure equality and uniformity and not allow for op- position spokespersons to be re- ported indirectly whilst govern- ment speakers are privileged to speak directly into a microphone. Moreover, "the head of man- agement and the members of the governing board of public service media providers shall be appoint- ed through a transparent, open and non-discriminatory and proportionate criteria laid down in advance by national law"; this means the that the Prime Min- ister will no longer be entitled to handpick his party faithfuls to manage PBS, nor will he be enti- tled to dismiss them at his discre- tion when he believes they do not tow the party line. Article 5 of the proposal applied to Malta would mean that PBS's head of news cannot be select- ed from Castille but through an open process based on compe- tence. Equally, PBS's board of Di- rectors cannot be handpicked by Robert Abela or his successor but through an open call. While the proposal gives room for hope. It is too early to be jubi- lant. The proposal now needs to be negotiated and supported by the Council of Ministers, where Malta is represented by Govern- ment, and the European Parlia- ment. Worth noting also is that the Commission Proposal being a Regulation, once adopted at EU level this will be directly applica- ble and enforceable in our courts, without the need for implemen- tation. This means that every citizen can ask our local courts to en- force it with and against Govern- ment if need be. All the above considered it is of no surprise to hear rumours in the Brussels 'radio moquette' that actors of the Maltese government are already looking for arguments to tone down the European Com- mission's ambition in the Media Freedom Act. One argument floated around is that the Regulation is ultra vires, hence going beyond the scope of the Union's remit. This argu- ment would presumably question whether the Commission has the powers in the treaty need- ed to enact laws on media free- dom. The Commission proposal in based on the Internal Market legal basis, arguing that harmo- nised Media rules are required to enable media companies to trade across borders. This latter aspect is arguably the weak underbelly of the proposed act. I hope that the above techno- cratic argument is not allowed to gather ground in Brussels. Back to Malta, the Labour government should just give in to the wind of change coming from Europe on this one and realise that it is us Maltese citizens who really de- serve a truly independent public broadcasting in the first place. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 SEPTEMBER 2022 Peter Agius is PN spokesperson and an EU expert kellimni@peteragius.eu